G-20 COMMUNIQUE November 29, 2009

On the occasion of the VII WTO Ministerial Conference, the Ministers of the G-20met in Geneva on 29 November 2009 to discuss the state of the play of the WTODoha Round negotiations.

They reaffirmed the unity of the G-20 and its readiness to continue to be a drivingforce in the DDA agriculture negotiations.

The Ministers of the G-20 have reiterated the centrality of Agriculture in the DohaRound. Agriculture will determine the level of ambition of the Doha DevelopmentAgenda.

They noted that international trade has been seriously impacted by the worldeconomic crisis. The crisis has shown the risks of all forms of protectionist practices,including the substantial trade-distorting subsidies provided by developed countries.Without the means to afford stimulus packages or bail-out programmes, developingcountries are disproportionately affected and bear the consequences of any erosion ofconfidence in the stability of the multilateral trading system. The crisis has alsohighlighted the importance and value of a development-oriented and rules-basedmultilateral trading system. Concluding the Doha Development Round would result ina triple win: (i) strengthening of the confidence in the multilateral trading system; (ii)guarding against the rise of protectionism; and (iii) contributing to boost the globaleconomy while reducing its asymmetries.

The Ministers of the G-20 called for urgent action on the Doha Round. All developedand developing members should be ready to negotiate for a conclusion of the Roundrespecting the Mandate. There is urgent need to translate political statements intoconcrete engagement in Geneva in order to accomplish the shared objective ofconcluding the Round in 2010. In their view, the only way to achieve this objective isto seek convergence on the basis of the draft modalities texts of December 2008. Theyalso shared the view that, although direct dialogue among members may be useful, theprimacy of the multilateral process must not be undermined. They noted that nearlyall WTO members, developed and developing, are in a position to follow this course.They urged all WTO developed members to join this consensus.

The Ministers of the G-20 also met with the Ministers Coordinators of Developing-Country Groups: The African Group (Egypt); the African, Caribbean and PacificGroup of States - ACPs (Jamaica, Kenya and Mauritius); the CARICOM (Trinidad &Tobago); the Cotton-4 (Burkina Faso); the G-33 (Indonesia); the NAMA-11 (SouthAfrica); the Least Developed Countries - LDCs (Tanzania); and the Small, VulnerableEconomies - SVEs (Barbados). The Ministers welcomed the exercise of assessmentamong developing countries and highlighted the solidarity demonstrated bydeveloping country groups throughout the negotiations. The Groups emphasized thatthe full integration of developing countries into the multilateral trading system willonly be achieved if the WTO system reflects their development needs andconcerns. To that end, they underlined the importance of concluding the DohaDevelopment Agenda by 2010 and that its results place development at its centre.

The Ministers agreed that, in order to achieve convergence, there is need for a processthat would lead to a narrowing of differences on remaining issues within the next fewmonths. The Ministers also agreed that there should be a multilateral opportunity,early next year, to evaluate progress made, identify remaining obstacles, and exploreways to successfully conclude the DDA before the end of 2010 in accordance with itsDevelopment Mandate.

The Ministers of all developing-country groups emphasized the importance ofconcluding the Doha Round and their joint commitment to achieving an ambitiousand balanced outcome that delivers on the development objectives of the Round inaccordance with the Mandate.